Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 421 - 421 Two hundred and seventy-eight

421: Two hundred and seventy-eight.

Aftertaste 421: Two hundred and seventy-eight.

Aftertaste Baron Joseph’s Mansion, the viewing terrace.

From here, one could overlook the entirety of Belfast and the vast sea beyond Crescent Bay.

The earthy freshness and coolness masked the oppressive heaviness in the air.

The rain had paused momentarily, but it was about to make a comeback.

In the distance, the black clouds covered the sea, and within the depth of the clouds, dark purple lightning surged.

It wouldn’t be long before the storm clouds reached Belfast.

The Baron, wrapped in blankets, nestled in a recliner, taking in the view while the butler changed her bandages.

Suddenly, the Baron mentioned Sara, “She’s actually quite pitiable.”

Lu Li looked towards her, his gaze halting at her legs.

The Baron knew what he meant and, annoyed, grabbed a blood-stained bandage and threw it at Lu Li.

The lightweight bandage had no force, but since Lu Li was only separated from her by a round table, close enough.

Just as it was about to land on Lu Li, the bandage paused mid-air and zoomed back faster—hanging on the Baron’s hair.

“That’s not the reason she killed,” Lu Li felt the tranquility and peace that came after narrowly escaping death.

The Baron tried to grab the bandage and throw it again, but the butler snatched it away, saying with a consistently unemotional voice, “Please be mindful of your noble dignity.”

“Dignity?

It disappeared along with my legs,” the Baron said as she lifted her leg, its neatly amputated cross section clearly visible.

The Baron was glad she couldn’t see those.

“Is there a wheelchair?” Lu Li looked towards the butler.

The butler bowed slightly and replied, “A craftsman has been contacted to make one, thank you for your concern for the Baron.”

“Lulu!” the Baron complained about the butler’s unfamiliar words and, propping her chin, leaned closer to Lu Li, “What do you think of this place?

The scenery, the food…”

The Baron blinked her narrow eyes, “And the beautiful women.”

Rather than seducing Lu Li, the mischief-loving Baron seemed more like testing Anna’s limits of patience.

The Baron’s words made Lu Li think of something and he changed the subject, “Do you know about the construction of the shelters?”

“What’s that…

wait, are you changing the subject?”

“You mean the shelter plan announced by the Exorcist United Organization?” the butler Lulu said.

“Yes, and what is the Exorcist United Organization?” asked Lu Li.

He had learned little about the outside world during the ten days he dealt with The Shadow of Puppetry incident.

The butler explained briefly, the Exorcist United Organization was a loose organization consisting of investigators, night guards, the Demon Slayer Association, and the Alliance, aimed at integrating information and resources.

This act of consolidating their palms into a fist implicitly confirmed Lu Li’s pessimistic view.

The Baron huffed intentionally, but no one paid attention to her.

The butler continued, “They did indeed invite the Baron a week ago, but at that time we were occupied with handling The Shadow of Puppetry and I postponed it.”

“How come I wasn’t aware of it?” the Baron interjected.

“I have mentioned this to you, and at that time your reply was ‘What kind of ghost organization is that, I’m nearly dead, why bother with a shelter—don’t bother with it,'” the butler mimicked the Baron’s voice.

“Uh…” the Baron closed her mouth and blinked.

“Do you have any suggestions?” the butler asked Lu Li.

Lu Li answered, “Contact them, and take refuge in the shelters as soon as possible.”

“Very dangerous?” the butler asked back.

She was a smart person, and a little information was enough for her to guess something.

Lu Li did not push his viewpoint, “Better safe than sorry, that’s something you as aristocrats should understand clearly.”

Survival is more important than growth for the aristocracy.

The butler bowed to express his thanks, “Thank you for the reminder, I will contact them for the baron later.”

After discussing business, the butler continued to clean the baron’s wound.

The black iron shovel from the story had prevented germs from infecting the wound, but the heavy rain and splashing mud still posed a risk of infection for the baron, necessitating regular disinfection and medication.

Lu Li was similar, though his injury was minor.

Dr.

Mister examined him and confirmed that his organs were not damaged and there was no infection, so he only needed to change the dressing once a day.

Anna, who had been hidden in the void, was helped up by Lu Li, who then walked to the back of the terrace.

From there, they could see Agate Lake and the woodshed in the back garden.

The soil above the basement was grotesquely upturned, revealing a large hole, but it was empty inside—after the story ended, all things that should not exist in reality had disappeared, leaving only the ripples from pebbles splashing into the lake behind.

The caution tape was set up, and the officers stood outside of it, with the head maid accompanying several watchmen in black uniforms, processing the scene.

They were cleaning up, or rather, removing the four corpses from the basement and scattered around outside.

David, Lola, Vinson, Petra.

They were left here forever.

Petra and Vinson may have known much more than Lu Li, but in front of The Shadow of Puppetry, they were still like ordinary people, without any chance to resist.

Quietly observing this scene, Lu Li tilted his head slightly and said to Anna, “Still not working?”

“Mm,” came Anna’s soft reply from the void.

Anna simply couldn’t control these leaked auras, as if they didn’t belong to her but seeped out from the Inner World through her soul.

In some ways, Anna had become a mobile source of contamination.

Any life that came close to her and got enveloped in the aura of the Inner World would see a decrease in Sanity Value.

The hidden danger did not stop there; being unable to conceal her aura meant that Anna could be detected by other exorcists or ordinary people with high spiritual sensitivity—just like Tesla’s reminder, most exorcists extremely detested the bizarre.

“Maybe I should stay away from you,” Anna said softly after a brief silence.

I can’t even get close to the person I want to protect…

Pain was growing inside Anna’s heart.

“What’s the range of the aura’s influence?” Lu Li’s voice asked; he didn’t mind these things and continued to let Anna support him.

“It could be a few meters…”

“And the dosage?

How long before it lowers a point of Sanity Value.”

“I don’t know…”

“It’s still the same as usual,” Lu Li nodded.

After all, Anna wouldn’t always be right beside him.

“Then… do you still need me to support you?” Anna asked tentatively from the void.

“Mm.”

Withdrawing his gaze, Lu Li returned to the front of the recliner.

The butler, having finished cleaning the wound, was wrapping the baron’s bandage, while the baron picked a grape and ate it, tilted his head while looking at the dark clouds over the sea, and said, “It seems the storm isn’t heading towards Belfast.”

The butler raised his head to take a glance.

“It’s just moving slowly.”

Lu Li settled into the recliner; the transparent hand that had been supporting his arm was about to leave, but at that moment, Lu Li reached out and grabbed Anna’s hand.

Lu Li knew Anna wasn’t in a good mood at the moment, but he wasn’t good at comforting people; he could only use this gesture to ease her emotions.

Anna did not struggle and gradually calmed down.

The chilling aura around her seemed to dissipate a bit.

The sea breeze that reached the mountaintop no longer had the smell of fish; the damp and cool breeze was invigorating, greatly improving the mood.

The baron chatted casually with Lu Li, and soon, she brought up The Shadow of Puppetry, “What does the ‘three’ at the end of The Shadow of Puppetry story mean?”